Indonesia jails bomb-maker in Myanmar embassy plot

JAKARTA - An Indonesian court Thursday jailed an Islamic extremist bomb-maker for seven-and-a-half years for his role in a plot to attack the Myanmar embassy to avenge the killing of Rohingya Muslims.

Separiano is the fourth person to be jailed over the failed plot to bomb the mission in Jakarta, which came amid rising anger in Muslim-majority Indonesia at the plight of the Rohingya in mainly Buddhist Myanmar.

The 29-year-old was arrested in May the night before the attack was due to take place, carrying a backpack full of pipe-bombs as he rode a motorbike with another alleged plotter in Jakarta.

At a previous hearing the court heard he had plotted with other militants over Facebook and had attended sermons by firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of the terror network behind the 2002 Bali bombings. Bashir is now in jail.

The South Jakarta District Court Thursday found Separiano, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, guilty of charges under anti-terror laws.

"The defendant Separiano... has been proven guilty legally and convincingly of making and transporting the bombs for an act of terrorism," said presiding judge Suwanto.

He handed him a seven-and-a-half year sentence. Separiano, also known by his alias of "Mambo", could have faced the death penalty.

On Tuesday the mastermind of the plot, Sigit Indrajid, was also jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

There have been a string of attacks on minority Muslims in Myanmar since 2012, mostly in the Rohingyas' western home state of Rakhine. Hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands made homeless.

There have been numerous demonstrations by Indonesians expressing support for the minority. In August a small bomb went off at a Buddhist temple in Jakarta, slightly injuring one person.

Indonesia has been waging a campaign against Islamic extremists over the past decade since a series of attacks on Western targets, and has succeeded in dismantling the most dangerous terror networks.